Charmed
by Marauder-In-Disguise
Summary: "People confuse me. They always have done and they always will do. But I don't mind being confused, as long as David is there." A rather unusual perspective on David Rossi...
1. Noise and Red

**A/N: This was essentially inspired by two things – firstly, the fact that I've had to read an Old English poem called 'The Dream of the Rood' which has an inanimate object telling the story. Also, as I was editing, I realised that I was reminded of the semi legendary Star Trek Voyager fanfiction 'I am Chakotay's Pillow' by LR Bowen. I thought I'd mention it in case someone else picked up on it and said that I didn't acknowledge my fanfiction superiors! So yes, that's what led to this rather strange interpretation of the David Rossi story…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds – and at least by not owning it, I don't currently have to acknowledge what is happening in series 6!**

It was all noise. Noise and red.

When someone wore me, I felt warm. All the time. I was only cold when the light went away into night and the Lady closed her eyes and was still for a while. She was my best friend. She was the reason I was warm and I loved her. I knew that even when I was cold in the dark, the light would come back and she would open her eyes, and I'd get to rest on her wrist and go wherever she did. I was the only one that she took places every day, apart from the Ring who rested on her finger. She was beautiful; a gold circle, with a white sparkling stone that sometimes caught the light and shone even more. I liked to look at her. We would wait together, at night, when the lady put us next to her. The Ring had a partner, that the Lady's Man wore. He was more plain, the same colour as me, and he'd wait on the other side. I sometimes felt bad that I got to be with the beautiful Ring and he couldn't be, but then there was nothing I could do to change it. I kept an eye on her, for him. It was all I could do.

I loved the Lady. Like I said, she would take me everywhere with her. I liked to look at things. We'd go in the Car and take the Little People to school or the place with lots of toys. I liked doing it because I could look at the trees. They always looked like they were waving and I couldn't work out what made them move. I still don't know actually. I used to wish that I could wave back at them, just in case they wanted me to, but then I didn't feel like it for a long time, not after – Well, after that day. I didn't feel like doing anything for a long time.

It had been a special day. The Little People were excited all day, running up and down the garden. The Lady pretended to be annoyed, but I knew she wasn't. I could always tell. She felt very hot when she was upset, almost too hot to touch. When the Man came home, he got in the Shower and then we all got in the Car. We didn't usually go out of the House at night and I got excited too. I couldn't help it. We stopped at a place full of noise and colours. It was amazing. Sometimes, when I think about it, I try to remember everything that happened. It's hard, because it all blurs into one big picture. I know that we went on lots of fast things, faster than the Car. I couldn't see very well after that and I was glad that I could hold onto the Lady. She made sure that I stayed safe. The Lady smiled lots, more than she had smiled for a long time. The Man held her hand tightly, squashing me between them, but I felt cosy rather than uncomfortable. Everyone ate lots of funny, bright coloured food. That place, that night, with the music and the colours, that's what I thought magic must be like.

It didn't end as well; that's something I can remember. The Lady had the biggest Little Person with her and they were watching a Clown make an animal from something green and bendy. I didn't like him, the Clown. There was something funny about his eyes. The animal looked all wrong but he smiled anyway. I wouldn't have smiled back but the Lady did, because she was lovely, and took it anyway. They walked away and I watched the Clown behind us. He did a funny thing; he stood very still, with his hand covering his eyes, and then he started to walk after us. How I wished I could tell the Lady! She didn't know for what felt like a long time but then, when the Little Person was sat in a giant teacup, she looked up and saw the Clown. I knew she was as annoyed as me, because she got very hot and I could feel the drumbeat that meant she was going to get mad. She went and quickly found the Man and whispered something in his ear, so that the Little People couldn't hear. He looked at the Clown, who was stood a little way off, and then told the Little People it was time to go. They must have been ready to close their eyes because they didn't say no. I watched the Clown again as we left. He looked sad and I felt a little bit bad for him. He hadn't actually done anything wrong. I thought that maybe the fast things had made him a bit silly too, like me, and he didn't have anyone to hold on to.

But then it was all noise.

Noise and red and cold.

So much noise.

So much red.

So much cold.

The light had gone away, and the Ring and I were waiting next to the Lady again. We were all tired from the magic place and so I didn't notice until it was too late. How I have wished that I noticed before. Very quietly, someone came into the Bedroom. I looked hard and realised it was the Clown! He wasn't dressed like a clown but he still had a funny face, so I knew it was him. He crept very quietly to the Bed and pulled back the covers. I was almost shaking, wanting to do something so badly. The Ring was pretending not to notice, she was so scared. The Clown pulled back the covers and then he made a funny noise. The Man opened his eyes and as soon as he saw, he jumped right up. The Lady opened her eyes too and made a little scared noise. I wanted to comfort her so badly.

I don't really remember what happened after that. The Man reached under the Bed and picked up a sharp thing that he had hidden there from the Little People. He didn't use the sharp bit though. He turned it around and hit the Clown with the wood bit. Served him right. Nasty, sneaking Clown. How dare he come into our House? But then the Clown made an angry noise and before I could see what had happened, he had the sharp thing and he was hitting the Man with it.

So much red.

The Lady tried to scream but before she could, the Clown had hit her too. My poor, innocent Lady! She hadn't hurt him. He just hit her. And then he kept hitting, her and the Man. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. I had to watch. He kept hitting, and I could hear the noise of every hit and see the way that there was more and more red in the room.

So much red.

When he stopped, there was so much mess. He sat down, the Clown, and he started to cry. I didn't understand and I didn't know if I should feel bad for him or not. He picked them up from the floor and put them back in Bed. Then there was another person, an Old Man. He cried too, for a little while, and then he started to clean up the red. He didn't do a very good job. There was so much. Then, him and the Clown ran away. That was it. They were gone.

I watched the Man and the Lady all night. They didn't move.

When the light came again, I waited for them to open their eyes and clean up the red. They didn't. I wanted so call out, to try and make them open their eyes, but I couldn't. I had to wait. Soon, the biggest Little Person came in. Good, I thought, they don't keep their eyes shut when the Little People are here. When the Little Person saw the red, she started to cry. I wanted to cry too. The mess was horrible. She went to the Man and the Lady and tried to make them open their eyes. I waited.

They didn't open their eyes.

The Little Person opened her mouth and she started to scream. The other Little People came running in and then they started to scream too. It was a horrible noise and it made me want to shiver. They screamed for a long time before someone came. The Man and the Lady still didn't open their eyes and I got a funny feeling that they wouldn't ever open them. They were gone, because of the Clown! The Clown that I should have warned them about. He'd done it to them. The horrible Clown with the funny eyes who couldn't make animals look right. The Lady had been nice to him, even though he got it wrong, and then he'd followed them. I understood why the Little People were screaming. If I could have screamed, I would have done too. I would have screamed for my beautiful Lady, my best friend. How I loved her. How I still love her.

Soon, there was more noise outside, adding to the noise that the Little People were making. I couldn't think with all the noise. People came in downstairs and running up the stairs. Thank goodness they had come to help the Little People. Two men came in first, looking around them very fast. One was dressed in blue and another one in a suit. They looked at the Bed with wide eyes and then at the Little People. The one in the suit moved first, putting his arms around the two smallest Little People and picking them up. He held them tight to him and whispered words I couldn't hear. They still screamed, holding tight to him. He left the room quickly, followed by the man in blue with the biggest Little Person. It was quiet for a minute. Just a minute. Then there were lots of people, and I didn't get a moment alone for a long time.

**A/N: To be continued…**


	2. My David

**A/N…And introducing, Mr David Rossi! **

**See chapter one for disclaimer**

I didn't know that I could call people by their names until I met him. Sometimes, I wish that I had listened for my Lady's name, so that I could think about it when I remember her. I always thought that people called other people whatever they wanted. It felt wrong to listen when I thought that. I learnt about names when the Old Lady, the one who introduced me to the Lady on that first magical day, gave me to him. To my David.

It had been a hard time, the days after the Clown came. When my David was the man in the suit, I watched him in the red room, with lots of other men in blue. He seemed sad, but I was sad too. I'd lost my Lady and the Little People made me feel funny, with their screaming. The poor Little People. The Old Lady came and took them away and then soon – after two cold and lonely nights – she came again and took me too. For a while, I rested on her wrist. It felt different. She was warm but she was also shaky. Always shaky. I think it happens when they get old.

One day, she took me and the Little People to a beautiful place with lots of trees and silvery stones all over the place. The trees waved to me but I ignored them. I didn't care. I didn't care about anything. There were lots of people there and all of them were sad. It was a strange; they were sad about two wooden boxes that they were putting in big holes. Sometimes, people confuse me. For a while, a man talked and everyone listened. I saw some of the men who had been in the bedroom, the ones wearing blue, and I saw the man in the suit. I didn't know his name then. He was standing at the back and watching the Little People. Soon, all of the people left. The man in the suit came to talk to the Old Lady. They talked for a long time, and she cried, and then I felt her shaky fingers on me, handing me over! She was giving me to a stranger. I wanted to cling onto her, to promise that I would do better to make her happy if I could only stay with her. I'd already lost my Lady and now she wanted me to leave. It wasn't my fault! I couldn't stop the Clown! He was too big, too fast! It wasn't my fault. Please don't make me go. I'm sorry.

I was scared. So scared. She put me in his hand and I sat there, unable to argue. He was nodding as she talked and then I heard her say a word I had never heard before.

David.

I liked the sound that the word made when she said it. It sounded nice. I wondered what it meant. My Lady was clever and knew lots of words but she had never said it before. David. David. David. I thought hard about the word, so that I wouldn't be so scared that she was making me leave. I needed to be brave. She said the word again and he nodded. I started to get a funny feeling that it was one of those things that people called each other, even though I didn't know it. I didn't like those words. They belonged to people. But then a man in blue, who was stood by a tree, said something and he said the nice word too. David. Two people calling the man David? Maybe they had decided to share the word! And it was so nice that I thought some more about it. David. David. I already had a Man, even though the Clown had made him not wake up. I had to call the man in the suit something. I could call him David, secretly. No one would ever know that I had taken it. David. I liked that word.

I was so busy thinking that I didn't notice what was happening until it was too late. David closed up his hand and the light went away. She was really making me go away! She must have been so sad at me, for not stopping the Clown, that I had to go away. I wanted to say I was sorry again, to make her see that I just wanted to be with her and be warm on her wrist, but I couldn't. His hand moved and I was dropped into a place that was soft and warm. I didn't know that places could be warm without being close to a person. I realised that I hadn't got to even look at the Old Lady or the Little People for one last time.

I never got to say goodbye.

**To be continued…**


	3. Three Ladies Who Made Him Sad

**A/N Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favourites so far guys! **

**For disclaimer see chapter one**

That day happened so long ago that sometimes it doesn't feel real when I think about it. Sometimes, I think that I dreamed everything - the Lady, the Little People, the Clown – and that I've been with David forever. The only reason that I have never forgotten entirely is because David talks about it. He wants to remember too; I never found out how he knew my Lady or her Man but he must have cared about them lots because he's never stopped talking about it, not in all the long time since that day when the Old Lady gave me to him. She introduced me to the two best friends I've ever had, the Old Lady. First, my Lady and then, when she couldn't be my friend any more, to my David. Sometimes I feel bad when I think about my friends because I secretly know that I love David more than my Lady. He's been my best friend for longer than she was, and I had to share her with the Man and the Little People. I don't share David with anyone. Not most of the time.

There have been some other people. I didn't like them because they made David sad. The first one was nicer than the other two but she still ended up making him sad. I called her the Little Lady because she was very small. When I first went to the House with David, she held me very gently and looked carefully at me. David seemed to trust her and her hands felt the same as my Lady's, so I wasn't scared. It was nice to feel hands like that again – David's are warm but they are hard as well. I don't mind now, but I did then. It felt wrong. The Little Lady was nice for a long time, whenever me and David were at the House, but after a while I noticed that when she touched me, she would be rough with me. They started to not talk as much, and when they did talk, it was loud and reminded me of the Little People and their screaming. I hated it. She'd point at me when she shouted and I started to think that she was jealous of me. Silly Little Lady, I thought. David and me are only friends. You don't need to be jealous of me. She was the one that he would lay next to and hold very close whenever we were at the House. I know that he loved her lots but she forgot. Then one day, she wasn't there anymore. David was sad for a long time. We stayed at the House for a while and I would watch him at night; he acted like the bed was too big for him and he'd go to close his eyes in a different room with a little bed. It wasn't a long time before we went to a new House.

The second person was horrible. I didn't like her at all. She was the Yellow Lady because she had hair that looked that colour. I didn't know her for very long. She was always being silly, in the same way that the Little People used to be, but she was grown so it looked stupid. I don't know why David wanted her around because she was always nasty to me and only nice to him sometimes. Even when I knew we were close to the House, he'd sometimes not go home at night and then he told her to leave. I was glad. I know that people like to be with other people but David didn't need to be near her. He wasn't as sad as when the Little Lady left but we still went to a new House. I don't think he wanted to remember her. I know I didn't.

The last one was around for longer than the Yellow Lady but she wasn't as nice as the Little Lady. She held me gently the first time that he introduced us and I hoped that she would stay. She was the Brown Lady, because of her hair again. I felt funny about her because although she wasn't as nice as the Little Lady, I think that the reason they made each other sad was more because of David than her. He was very odd for the time that they loved each other and sometimes he'd drink lots of a yellow drink that made him say and do silly things. I still loved him, because I had loved him for so long, but the Brown Lady didn't know him like I did and she got too sad to stay. She blamed me too. I don't know why or what I ever did to make her hate me but, like I said, people confuse me. We went to a different House again after that. We've been in that House a long time. Well, we don't live there lots because we're always somewhere else, but that's where David keeps his things and where the Dog lives. The Dog is the only one that I have to share David with but he loves us equally so I don't mind. The Dog doesn't make him sad and that's the most important thing. I hate it when David is sad.

**To be continued…**


	4. A Drumbeat In His Pocket

**A/N – Thanks for all reviews and alerts so far guys! Only one more chapter to go after this one ^_^**

**For disclaimer see chapter one**

David and me go to lots of places. So many places that I couldn't remember all of them even if I tried. I don't think that it is normal to go to as many places that David and me and his friends have been to. But that's his Job, and I know that he helps people, so I don't mind. As long as I'm with him, I don't mind anything. He doesn't wear me on his wrist like the Old Lady or my Lady, but he puts me in his Pocket and although that means I can't always see things, I can feel the drumbeat inside of his chest. I used to feel a gentle drumbeat when the Lady wore me on her wrist, but David's is stronger and louder and makes me feel so safe that even when he has to sometimes leave me behind I don't worry because I can pretend that I still feel it and just wait for him to get back. He always comes back.

So for a long time, David and me used to spend most of our time in different places. We would stay in different rooms, sometimes with one of his friends, and for all different amounts of time. We stopped doing that for a long time too but we're back to doing it again now. We don't share rooms anymore though. I think it's because he's old now and all of his friends are younger. We're both old. I wouldn't want to share either.

When I first knew him, one of the first things he did was introduce me to his friends. All of them were men. His two best friends were called Max and Jason. I liked their names and so I borrowed those too. David wouldn't mind if I shared his words. I knew it. Max was grumpy lots of the time and he would drink lots and lots of the yellow drink that sometimes made David silly. I didn't like it when Max held me or shared our room – he was too loud and rough and he made David loud and rough. It was when he was with Max the most that David would sometimes scare me. Part of their Job was to talk to people who they thought had done bad things to other people. They would both get angry sometimes and shout very loudly at the bad people until they told them the truth. I would tremble because the drumbeat is always very fast when David is angry, and be so scared that he would shout at me too. But then, when we were back in the room or wherever we were staying, David would always hold me very gently and I'd know that everything was alright and he wasn't angry at me. Sometimes, after the days with very bad people, David would make sure that we were alone, kneel down, and start to whisper to the air. My Lady used to do that, every night, with the Little People and I never knew who they were talking to. All I knew was that it was something that made people feel happy and safe. David didn't do it very much at all and I thought that was maybe why he got sad. If I could tell him even now to do it more, I think I would. Anything to make him feel better.

His other friend, Jason, I liked more. I haven't seen Max or Jason for a very long time but it's only Jason that I miss. He was very gentle and spoke quietly and although him and David argued lots I knew that they didn't really mean it. When they needed someone to be nice to them, they were nice to each other. Jason had the world in his eyes; I heard someone say that once and although I don't know for sure, I think I knew what they meant. I didn't mind when Jason held me because he was always as careful as David and his hands were very warm. Sometimes, David would close his eyes at night and then open them very quickly a little while later. I think that the Lady used to call it 'bad dreams'. I don't know what dreams are, let alone bad ones, but he was always upset when it happened. If we were sharing with Max, he would never open his eyes to help but Jason always did and he was always nice to David. I hated when David had bad dreams when Jason wasn't there. Twice in all the time I've known him, David has been sad enough to cry – very quietly – and both have been after bad dreams. Jason made sure that he was alright. That's why I liked him.

When we stopped going to as many places and David started writing, we had to say goodbye to Jason. Max had already gone by then so he didn't matter. It wasn't a very nice goodbye; we said goodbye first to the young ones, especially David's new friend Aaron, and then went to see Jason. That is the only time that I ever saw him angry. I don't know why he was angry – maybe because David was leaving – but they didn't talk for very long and I felt bad as we left. I liked Jason a lot but that was the last time that I ever saw him and no one ever even says his name anymore. Not much anyway. I miss him. He was sort of my friend too.

And then we were on our own for a long time. We mostly stayed at the House with the Dog and David would do lots of writing. Sometimes, we'd go away for a while and David would talk to lots of people who all knew his name and read the things that he wrote. We didn't really have many friends though. Not during that time. There were lots of people but none of them stayed very long. Sometimes there would be ladies who came for a few days but they all went away in the end. I think that David must have got lonely because eventually he decided that we should go back to the Job. When he did the Job, he was happy, so I didn't mind going back. All I wanted was for him to be happy.

**TBC**


	5. The Young Ones

**A/N…And on to the last chapter. Thanks to all the people who have stuck with it this far and alerted and reviewed!**

**For disclaimer see chapter 1**

And so we're back at the Job. Jason isn't here anymore but there are lots of other people. Aaron is David's new best friend. I remember him and I think he remembers me. I like Aaron. He's like a mix of Jason and Max but with none of Max's bad parts. There are two young ones whose names I can't remember – one is quite big and fierce and strong but is also very gentle and one is very, very clever. There are three ladies as well and none of them make Dave sad. All of the ladies he's ever known seem to make him sad, so it's good that these three don't. One of them is called Garcia and she's crazy and happy and brilliant. I don't know the other two's names – there's a Yellow one and a Brown one, just like the ladies that David loved, but they are kind and lovely so that's different. I like being at the Job more now – Aaron is in charge and so David doesn't have to worry so much or get so angry.

Only one horrible thing has happened since we came back and that's when I thought that I might lose David. His bad dreams had been getting worse for a while and he was more sad than I'd seen him for a long time. One day, he took me out of his Pocket and I realised that we were in the place where I lived with the Lady and the Man and the Little People! We'd come to my very first House! I didn't know why we were there and then he put me back in my Pocket and I didn't know what was happening for much longer than usual. The next time I came out, three of the people from the Job were there with us and they looked like they were talking about me and what happened to my Lady and the Man. He let them hold me, which meant that he was starting to trust them and so I relaxed. It felt funny to hear him say what had happened. It had been so long since anyone really talked about it. I couldn't stop thinking about it after that though. All of the bad memories came back.

I still don't know exactly what happened after that because I spent far too much time in my Pocket. I do know that the drumbeat was very fast for much longer than normal. He was either very excited about something, or very upset, or maybe both. There were lots of angry words and lots of voices that I didn't know. The next time I was out of the Pocket, outside of the place where we were staying, we were back at my first House. David was talking to a young lady that I had never seen before. There was another young lady and a young man there too. They were very happy about something. It's funny, but I thought that the young lady looked a bit like my Lady. I know it's silly, because my Lady is gone, but she still looked the same. I was so busy looking at her and the younger one that kissed David on the cheek that I didn't notice him put me in the young lady's hand. I didn't worry for a minute, because I was used to people holding me, but then he started to walk away! He was leaving! After everything we'd been through, all the times that I'd been his closest and best friend, he was leaving me with strangers. I was helpless as I watched him walk away and open the Car door. If I could have cried, or screamed or done anything but lay there and watch, I would have. My David was leaving me. I thought that if he got in the Car and drove away, I would never be happy again.

I don't know if the young lady could tell that I was sad but she seemed to decide something and ran after David. When she put me back in his hand and closed it tight around me, I thought that I'd explode from happiness. I don't know why he was leaving me there, and I was angry with him for a little while, but I thought that there must have been a very good reason even if I didn't know it. He would never hurt me. Not my David. Not my best friend.

That was a while ago now and David has been much happier since then. He still takes me places but sometimes now he doesn't put me in his Pocket. I stay in a warm and soft little bag in his bigger bag. It means that I don't get to feel the drumbeat everyday but I've got used to it now. We've been together so long that maybe it's good we spend some time apart. It just makes it even better when he takes me from my bag and holds me. He smiles at me now. He never used to. Not ever. He's always been gentle but he didn't smile. Now I think about it, I suppose it's quite strange that he never did that. We are best friends after all.

But then, like I said, people confuse me. They always have done and they always will do. But I don't mind being confused, as long as David is there. I don't mind anything much at all when he's with me.


End file.
